Fitzgerald creates a first person narrator, rather than having Gatsby tell his story in his voice, he uses a third-party witness. Mary Jo Tate (2007) believes that “Fitzgerald probably learned this technique from English novelist JOSEPH CONRAD, whose work he admired greatly” (p. 91). Nick is a partially involved narrator, a character in the novel who is not the protagonist but who is not merely a non participating witness. Nick is the moral center of the novel, and he serves as a reliable witness for the reader. He makes sense of Gatsby’s history and adds credibility to the stories. Nick is the observer of Gatsby’s fate, as he must struggle to understand Gatsby. He evaluates his role: “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and …show more content…
Daisy Buchanan
Fitzgerald, during his time in Princeton, fell in love with Ginevra King, the daughter of a socially prominent St. Paul family. She was popular, pretty, and rich. As their relationship was about to end, he overheard this comment “Poor boys shouldn’t think of marrying rich girls”.
Fitzgerald was extremely sensitive to rejection and the class variations. He would remember through his entire life the role of Ginevra’s wealth played in their relationship. This was how the corrupting power of money over love in American life became one of the great themes in his fiction. Ginevra’s image and this disappointment was the inspiration behind The Great Gatsby’s Daisy Buchanan.
Daisy Buchanan is the most important female figure to this novel. We are told that she and Gatsby fall in love in 1917, when Daisy was 18 years old. Gatsby was sent to war, and she promised to wait for him. Although, she loved Gatsby, she could not bear to wait for him. She married a wealthy young man, named Tom Buchanan.
We see Daisy only through Nick’s eyes. We cannot access her feelings and motives. She is always romanticized, but never explained. Daisy is a beautiful young woman. She has the power to charm. Her voice is emphasized, and described as ‘a deathless song’. On the other side, she is also selfish, cynical and shallow. Her inner emptiness is expressed through her boredom and